A How-To Guide to Babysitting
by heavyheartsandhope
Summary: When Tai's normal babysitter cancels on short notice, he's forced to trust his son in the care of TK and Kari. TK and Kari have never babysat before. What could possibly go wrong? Takari


"Don't worry, Tai! We've got it!" Kari Kamiya assured her brother as she took the baby from his arms.

Tai Kamiya looked up from the floor with a questioning look as he placed the diaper bag on the floor. "I'm sure you've got it," he said, completely unsure. "It's just for one night. I don't think you guys can cause permanent mental distress." He let out an uneasy laugh.

Tai did trust his sister and TK with a lot of things. He trusted them with the fate of two worlds. But when it came to his son, he felt a little uncomfortable leaving him with the two DigDestined who were always taken care of, not the care takers. The only experience both had with infants was Digi-Eggs, and Nori was different from a Digi-Egg. But their normal babysitter had to cancel and Tai could not postpone his anniversary date. He was in a pinch and needed the two younger DigiDestined.

TK came out of the kitchen shaking a baby bottle. "Don't worry. I've got his schedule memorized." He gave Kari the bottle. "We feed this little guy right now, keep him entertained until 7:30, and then we put him down for the night. Easy enough."

Tai gave them a weak smile. "If you say so," he conceded. "Just make sure you get him down at 7:30 sharp. If you don't, he'll be up all night."

Feeding baby Nori, Kari smiled wholeheartedly at her brother. "Tai, don't worry! Go have fun tonight! It's your anniversary!"

Tai grabbed his car keys from his pocket, giving his sister a small laugh. "Don't worry about leaving my six-month-old with my 20-year-old sister and her boyfriend?" He reached for the handle of the front door, cracking open the door slightly. "I'm going to worry a little bit."

The older DigiDestined leaned over, kissing his son's head and then his sister's forehead. "I'll be back at nine tomorrow morning." He looked Kari in the eyes, giving her a concerned look. "Please be careful. I trust you."

Kari looked down at her nephew, still sucking on his bottle. "Tai, for the last time, I've got this."

With another weak smile, Tai nodded at both of the younger DigiDestined before walking out of their apartment.

Kari turned around to her boyfriend, smiling with confidence that they would be just fine. "Besides, what could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

"This. This could possibly go wrong," TK said, exasperated. He handed a crying Nori back to his girlfriend before taking off his puke-covered shirt.

Kari, gently bouncing the baby up and down, gave TK a concerned look. "I'm sorry, TK. The stain remover is in hall closet," she apologized over the baby's wails. Kari looked down at her nephew, bouncing him let forcefully than TK had, in case he spit-up again. She cooed at him, softly sang to him, but nothing would stop him from crying. "TK, what do we do?" she cried, on the verge of tears herself.

TK came back out from their bedroom, a clean shirt on, and ran over to the diaper bag. "There has to be something in here to calm him down," TK pleaded with the bag. "It's almost time to put him down."

Kari looked over at the clock, realizing she had lost track of time. Her heart dropped to her stomach. "TK…" Her voice was filled with terror. "It's 8:15."

TK looked up from the bag to the clock, confirming what Kari had said. His eyes went wide, remembering Tai's warning. "Oh, god," he whispered, going back to the bag and pulling out play mats and toys. He couldn't let Kari see him flustered. It was just a baby. He was an adult. He could outsmart a baby.

TK rushed over to their living area and quickly moved the coffee table from the middle of the room. "Okay, not a problem," he said in a panicked tone, spreading out Nori's play mat. He scattered stuffed animals and rattles all around. "We'll just wear him out. That's what they do with dogs, right? They just play with them until they get too tired." TK reached up from the floor for the baby.

Kari looked down at TK with an uneasy look. "Nori's not a dog. He's a human," she reminded, still bouncing him gently, holding his head to her chest. She wasn't sure about this plan, but she didn't have a better idea. She let out an exhausted sigh before handing Nori down to TK and sitting down next to him.

"It's worth a shot," he smiled, laying the crying baby down on his back. He shook one of his rattles, hoping to get the baby's attention. Nori's cries subsided for a minute as he reached up for the rattle in TK's hand. Kari let out a relieved breath as TK gave up the rattle. The boy smiled over at his girlfriend. "See? You just have to have a little bit of hope."

Kari rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "I won't doubt you again," she laughed, reaching over to the couch for a cloth. She pulled the corner of the cloth over her index finger and gently wiped the tears away from Nori's cheeks.

Nori held the rattle in both hands, shaking it as well as he could. His crying had stopped; he was preoccupied by his toys.

The DigiDestined leaned back, relieved to have the baby stop crying. They say quietly, as if any other sound instead of the rattle would make him cry again. TK looked over at Kari, who finally looked relaxed. The girl nodded back at her boyfriend, a silent sign that they had this under control. They returned their attention back to the baby.

Nori held the rattle high above his head, staring intensely at it. He tried to shake it again, but his hands let go of it. The rattle fell on his face before rolling onto the floor.

Kari rushed to pick him up before he started crying, but it was too late. Nori's eyes began to water and he let out a loud wail. Kari rocked and bounced him, but he was crying as much as before. TK fell backwards on the floor, letting out a loud sigh.

"TK, this isn't working. Sit up," Kari pleaded, handing Nori to a now upright TK. "I'm going to look up baby advice on the internet. There has to be something."

TK held Nori at a distance, not wanting a repeat of the spit-up earlier. He gave the crying baby a disgusted look, remembering the stain on his shirt. "Okay, just hurry," he called out as Kari ran to her laptop on the coffee table.

Kari could hear TK cooing at her nephew as she turned on her laptop and began frantically searching the internet for the cure to Nori's consistent crying. Mommy support group forums seemed to be her best shot. She scrolled through one, trying to find one that didn't involve dipping a pacifier in liquor or owning a car. One suggestion came across her eyes, causing them to widen. It was doable in their apartment complex and had a lot of likes.

Jumping up from her computer, Kari ran into the kitchen. "TK, put him in his car seat! I'll find the quarters!"

* * *

"I can't believe that worked," TK whispered, sitting on the bench in their apartment's laundry room.

Kari smiled tiredly, leaning against an empty dryer. She looked down at baby Nori in his car seat on top of a working dryer. He was sound asleep, just as the forums online had said he would be. She looked down at the time on her phone: 10:25. "It only took two dollars and two hours," she whispered back.

Nori had been asleep since the third time they started the dryer, but let it go for another round for safe measure. The two had tried their hardest not to make a sound, in fear of waking him up. But as the fourth cycle came to an end, they had to face the difficult part: getting him back to their apartment without any noise.

TK took one last gulp before giving Kari a serious nod. He decided he would take the carrier back, as he had the steadiest hand out of the two. He sat up and careful laid his fingers down on the handle. Kari watched over, patiently waiting for something to go wrong. TK tightened his grip on the handle before slowly picking it up. Nori didn't budge, but TK didn't let out his breath yet. Lifting him away from the dryer, he nodded his head over to the door, silently instructing Kari to hold it open. Kari rushed over the door, slowly opening it in case it squeaked. Thankfully for them, it didn't, and TK slipped out of the room, Nori in tow. Their apartment was the floor above the laundry room. Only one flight of stairs separated them from a good night's sleep.

TK nodded for Kari to go up the stairs first. She took his hint, and went on ahead, scoping the floor for any unwarranted noises. Noticing none, she waved TK up the steps, keeping guard as he walked up. The coast was still clear when TK made it to the top of the stairs. Quickly, but not too fast as to wake up the baby, the two younger DigiDestined entered their apartment.

While Kari got the diaper bag from the living room, TK took the carrier into their room, where Tai had set up Nori's travel crib before he left. He set the carrier on the bed and unhooked the baby from his seat slowly. Kari walked into the room as TK placed the still sleeping Nori in his crib.

Their mission was complete. Nori was down for the night.

TK put his finger up to his lip and tiptoed out of the room, leading Kari back to their living room, where they fell onto their couch with a thud. They both let out an exhausted sigh.

"That took way too long," Kari complained, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Tell me about it. I lost a shirt in the process," TK responded, putting his hat over his face.

Kari sat back up on the couch and scooted closer to TK, wrapping an arm around his torso. TK put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "I think we deserve a long night's rest," the girl requested, giving her boyfriend a small smile.

TK agreed, nodding. "As long a rest as Nori will allow us," he reminded.

Kari stood up, throwing her arms back in a stretch while letting out a yawn. "It's one night. Tai said he's starting to sleep through the night. Maybe we'll get lucky."

* * *

Kari could have sworn she heard Nori cry again. The baby's cry had become distinct to her that night. But the room was quiet, void of any baby sounds.

Now awake in her dark room, she rolled over and looked at her clock. It read 3:10. She let out a small groan before rolling over to her other side, reaching an arm out to TK. When her arm hit the bare side of the bed, she reopened her eyes.

TK wasn't in bed.

Kari sat up, confused. TK never got up in the middle of the night. She was wide awake now, so she threw herself off of the bed and walked over to Nori's crib.

Nori was gone, too.

A sensation of panic rose up her spine as she made her way out of her room. Where could her boyfriend and nephew have gone? They were only asleep for five hours. There wasn't much to do at three in the morning.

Approaching the living room, she noticed a dim lamp light was on, one that she swore she had turned off before bed. She looked over the living room, which they hadn't cleaned up since their first attempt to settle Nori down. She walked over to the coffee table, about to move it when she noticed something was on the couch.

Shirtless TK was fast asleep with baby Nori asleep on his chest. An empty bottle sat on the floor next to the couch, along with the spit-up rag the two had neglected their first feeding. The DigiDestined had one hand on the baby, to keep him from falling off.

Kari smiled at the sight, at first relieved that she hadn't had to deal with another crying Nori, but then at the parental image of her boyfriend in front of her. Kids were the last thing on her mind, but it did make her heart melt to see how paternal TK looked with a baby on his chest. This was the first time Kari ever thought about how much cuter her boyfriend was when he was holding Nori, or any baby for that matter. With that thought aside, she was very grateful that TK had taken it upon himself to settle the crying baby himself instead of having both of them do it.

Since she was already awake, she thought that it wouldn't hurt to start cleaning up. Carefully, Kari began to pick up Nori's toys they had left on the floor, moving them over to the dining table. She folded up his play mat and set it by his toys. The last part was the hardest: moving the coffee table without making a sound. Kari put her hand on both longer sides of the table and lifted it up, carrying it back to its place in front of TK and Nori's couch.

"I would have gotten that in the morning," TK mumbled, startling Kari. Kari turned around to her sleepy smiling boyfriend. "He woke up fussing about an hour ago. I used your browser history to find some ideas. Those mommy forums know what they're talking about."

Kari smiled, rolling her eyes as she picked up the empty bottle. "And what miracle tip did you use this time?" she whispered, walking to their kitchen sink to rinse out the bottle.

TK slowly sat up, holding Nori close to his chest, and walked to the kitchen. "Babies love skin to skin contact. I took my shirt off, set him down on my chest, and he was out in five minutes." TK looked over at the clock, noticing the time change. "Guess I was out pretty soon after, too."

Kari held in a laugh at her boyfriend, deciding on a small peck on his cheek instead. "I appreciate you taking care of this. Though waking up in the middle of the night without your boyfriend or your nephew was quiet a scary moment." She set the clean bottle down on the table before retreating back to the living room. "It's almost 3:30 in the morning. Let's put him back in the crib and go to bed."

TK leaned down as best as he could with Nori still stuck to him and kissed the top of her head. "That's your second best idea all night."

* * *

"So he wasn't too much trouble?" Tai asked, giving his sister and TK a quizzical look as he hoisted the diaper bag on his shoulder.

Kari shook her head while TK yawned. "Not at all. We barely knew he was here. What a sleepy guy," she lied. She didn't want Tai to know the struggle they had the previous night. After the countless times she told her brother he had nothing to worry about, she had to prove to him that there was, in fact, nothing to worry about, with Nori. and her and TK.

Tai didn't buy what his sister said, but he was just happy his baby was still alive and in one piece. He knew he could trust the younger DigiDestined, but they looked too exhausted to truly have had it that easy. But he didn't press the subject.

"Okay, that's good. Thank you so much for your help. Sorry it was so last minute," Tai thanked as he picked up Nori in his carrier. "But hey, it gave you guys practice for the future. See ya!" He owed them for this, but he still had to get one quip in before he departed, shutting the door quickly behind him.

TK and Kari felt their cheeks grow warm at Tai's quick closing statement. The thought of getting married was far from their minds; the thought of kids was even further. They had just begun their lives together as a couple, and with that eventful night they had with Nori, they weren't ready to make two into three. They had never discussed children, but Tai brought it up like it was natural.

The two turned towards each other, silently reminiscing the previous night and examine how exhausted they both were.

TK shook his head. "Nope, no kids," he decided.

Kari nodded back and said, "Agreed," before the two went back to their bed to make up for the hours of sleep lost that night thanks to their parental trial run.


End file.
